Union gunners carry out a heavy five day bombardment of the Confederate forts defending Charleston

08/17/1863 to 08/21/1863

At dawn on August 17, 1863, Union naval units, supplemented with Union artillery batteries ashore commenced a heavy bombardment of the Confederate forts defending Charleston Harbor. The unprecedented shelling went on for five days. Fort Sumter came in for particular punishment and was largely reduced to a ruin. The other forts were heavily damaged but none were surrendered, despite Union threats to shell Charleston proper. (By John Osborne)